Project S
by aliencatx
Summary: A story by ScissorhandedAngel and geckogirl. After a rainy night and a tragic accident Peg finds out that Edward wasn't the only creation and a dark history is revealed.
1. unexpected hit and run

It was another normal rainy day in the midst of summer and Peg found herself and an unwilling Kevin driving home from a glamorous (at least in her opinion) shopping trip; bags filling the back seat.

Smiling to her self the woman thought about how glad she was that she had gotten wind of the clearances from Marge the day before.

But as the day grew short and the rain darkened the sky the mother found her mood dampening, the darkness of the rain stealing the clarity of the view.

She found herself beginning to worry, remembering tales of the accidents that happened in this particular. Not to mention Bill was waiting at home for dinner and Kevin was becoming restless.

In her worry she couldn't see what moved in between the shadows, watching intently.

But nonetheless unease filled the woman enough that she turned on the radio to a random station so she might forget the interfering thoughts.

Hmmm, interesting.

The song that came on was one like she had never heard.

Completely instrumental the lightness of it danced about her as if it were snow, angelic voices calming her, lifting her into oblivion and happiness.

Falling snowflakes, dancing, Edward.

She had the overwhelming urge to mention it to her son.

"Doesn't this song remind you of Edward?" she asked lightly, still floating.

"Who cares? We haven't even seen the freak in what, three years."

"Kevin!" scolded Peg, finding herself speeding up involuntarily, trying to fight the urge to injure her son.

"I mean, come on, he had scissors for hands and all he did was cut the bushes into freaky shapes and do stupid haircuts."

The mother's concentration was breaking, her speed continuing to increase, her patience beginning to break.

"Be quiet right this minute, Kevin Boggs! Don't you dare disrespect Edward. He was one of the kindest-"

"mom?" said Kevin, his tone changed entirely. He spoke now as if he were trying to point something out.

"Quiet. I've had enough of your back-"

"MOM!"

It was too late.

In a sudden flash of headlights and a mind-jerking stop, the two occupants of the car seemed to be in shock.

"We hit someone," said the boy quietly in disbelief.

"We fucking hit someone!" he yelled out shaking.

"Watch your mouth young man. I'll go see who it is. Stay here," spoke the mother still slightly in shock as she took a flashlight out of the glove compartment and left the car to investigate.

How fast had she been going?

Pretty fast…

God, I hope whoever they are, their okay.

...

Once out of the car and into the torrents of rain Peg could see the hazy vision of a young woman, whether it be from the rain or her own dizziness, she couldn't be sure.

All she knew, besides the pain she felt from the crash, that the girl was looking at her for moments, before passing out.

Could it of been from pain?

Peg bit her lip, feeling an immense wave of fear for this stranger. If she dies, Peg would be at fault, and she wasn't she if she would be able to bear that guilt.

She moved closer, the wind whipping the rain against her.

She could see the girl breathing.

She breathed a breath of relief before noticing that she wore a large black trench coat and a hood. All black.

Could she be from a gang?

And why was she walking around a highway this time of night in a torrential downpour?

No matter, this wasn't the time to be making rash decisions.

Once again the woman moved closer, noticing that with the thick layers she wore and all the black it would be hard to tell how wounded the girl was.

Her thoughts turned to curiosity to see her face which was shrouded by the hood.  
Carefully she removed to see nostalgic features; a pale face tinted with blue, especially around her eyes and purple lips.

Could this have been from the cold?

The woman brushed her finger across her cheek.

Warm.

She also noticed the silvery lines of scars about her face and the strange lack of eyebrows.

Was this something, someone in a gang would do?

No…it reminded her more of Edward, especially her hair which was as black as a raven's and as messy as it's nest.

Quickly, the woman dismissed her thoughts of the man she once thought of as her son and moved to search for an ID of some sort.

Finding the pockets of the trench coat which the girl had her hands in still, Peg started to pull a hand out to look for a wallet or something of the sort but instead saw a metal handle of a knife.

Maybe this girl really was from a gang?

Nonetheless Peg continued to pull out the metal object to discover it wasn't a knife at all.

To her shock it was a….

Scissorhand.

She really was like Edward, perhaps a relative, or even a sister…she had to know  
him.  
The woman felt her heart melting. She had to take this girl in, with more precaution of course, but hopefully this scissorhanded girl might know more about Edward.  
If he was okay.

All peg knew was that he was alive for Kim had told her-only her.

She thought about this as she started attempting to pick the girl up.

Heavy… like trying to pick up steel.

The mother found herself half-dragging the unconscious girl towards the car while shouting to Kevin who looked a bit more then freaked out.

"Kevin honey, can you please make some space in the back seat and get a blanket out of the trunk?"

Kevin shouted back a sure and rushed to the tasks.

He obviously hadn't gotten a good look at her yet.

In less than a minute the back seat was clear and while Kevin searched for the blanket in the trunk Peg managed to get the stranger into the back seat.

Soon her son came rushing around with the blanket as he handed it to her he saw.

"WHAT! No Way," he yelled backing away.

"We can't take that with us….That has to be breaking a law or something."

The mother ignored her idiotic son's behavior for a moment as she placed the blanket over the girl.

She couldn't stop thinking though. Others would react the same way and she didn't want another incident like what happened with Edward. Rumors and Cameras followed her family around for almost a year, making it impossible to get any peace after his "death."

She would just be more cautious this time.

No one would know.

Peg covered the girl a bit more with the blanket before getting back into the car.  
Kevin was already sitting down, arms crossed, mumbling about how stupid all this was.

It was an awkward drive home, even though the radio was turned up to some funky upbeat jazz station.

And once there, Kevin rushed to get out of the car grabbing a few of the bags under his mother's orders.  
The woman grabbed some too following after her son taking in a deep breath.

Thankfully Bill was inside watching the game.

Maybe she could sneak the girl in later.

No.

He had cared for Edward too, even if he didn't show it. He deserved to know.  
"Bill," she called with a false cheerfulness.

"Can you help me with some stuff from the car, please."

"Sure" called the man back in his lazy tone.

When they both got into the garage and he saw her Peg started her rushed explanation before he could say a word.

"I…well…hit her by accident-I mean she dashed in the front of the car or something and I was rushing-mad at Kevin…" she paused for a moment while Bill calmly raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't seen her hands yet and was probably thinking Peg should have taken her to a hospital.

"I couldn't just leave her there…so I took her here."

"No problem as all," said the man with a sigh as he went to help bring the girl in.

Then the blanket fell.

"Scissorhands?"


	2. a life of once

Far away from Suburbia a couple could be seen in the dimmed light of a tent of a freak show. And through the frigid bars the figures in shadow are a bit more easily seen. A young woman and man in their early twenties, the man dressed in only fatigued muslin pants and years of scars covering his body and the woman in a blood-stained shirt and pants.

It was the man's blood, but she was not the one to spill it. In fact she was currently cleaning his wounds wondering about the nightmare they endured-this nightmare brought upon them by another man who called himself her husband and in his greed for her love thrust both her love and her into hell.

But the man who the woman held, sagged against her weakly thinking as well- that this hell was not because of the man who had imprisoned them both but because of the sharpened metal that he wore as hands.

Because of his scissorhands of wrought metal, he had been not only been made part of a freak show, but given others permission to use him, torture him, and perhaps one day kill him if they so desired. They were the reason he was useless in protecting his Sage from her husband's tyranny, forcing her to become the protector.

During the period of silence which had overcome the two of them, the woman finally asked a question she had been meaning to ask for as long as she had known him.

"Edward, can you please tell me about your past?"

The man smiled weakly.

"Of course,"

The story he was about to tell would be no reprieve from the sadness surrounding them, but it something to fill the current emptiness.

"I was once normal by society's standards with hands of flesh and blood, with a mother and father who loved me very much," started the man as he let memories of long ago filter into the emptiness.

The swelling sun grew over the glistening morning and the formidable gothic mansion; a small family was shuffling about inside.

"Edward!" called a woman down one of the darkened stone halls, yawning as she steadily brushed her onyx locks.

A man, half her age swiftly popped out of the door, giving her an early morning grin.

"Morning," mumbled the man as he plodded back into the room, trying to hide the fact that he had slept so late, brushing his blackened hair from his eyes.  
Ze sighed thinking how her son should have been up at least an hour ago, as she plodded down the hall saying,

"Your father's waiting to eat, so hurry up please."

She strode elegantly into the room placing the silver handled brush on the nearby dresser of stained oak.

Edward meanwhile was hastening to get ready, feeling bad for waking up so late and pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt, trying not to trip over himself, as any young man would.

His mother just smiled gently encouraging him to speed up the pace as she moved towards the door and started walking down the hallway again.

Moments later her son's lithe body hurdled past her, running eagerly towards the attractive smell of her cooking.

But the woman refused to rush, instead keeping her slow pace so she may hear the birds chirping outside.

By the time she reached the stairs she had already pulled her hair into a bun and could hear Vincent calling to her now.

"Oh the irony, mother," said Edward laughing.

"Hurry up now," he said before bursting into a fit of laughter, gaining a chuckle from his father.

But Ze just rolled her eyes, smiling, as she made her way down the stairs.

By the time she got to the kitchen, she heard a joking apology from Edward and a 'thank you' from both her boys.

All she could think about as she sat down was how much her son must have missed her cooking while he was away in collage.

Meanwhile Edward let himself dig in only glancing up to see his silver haired father speak of his most recent inventions to his mother who smiled graciously at every word.

But all he could think about was the dream that wouldn't let him wake.

Or rather the nightmare.

Stark white rooms and hallways that had a lingering sense of something horrid.

A feeling of metal surrounding his wrists; being bound.  
Screaming.

Crying.

Then.

Pain.

Pure inexhaustible pain; and the some wicked knowledge which hung over him.

He supposed the worst part was the fact that he knew it would be coming soon-too soon.

But what could he do?

So stupidly, he ignored the nightmares in order to save his dear parents from worry.

Back in the present he heard Vincent speak of his current work.

How proud he was that he was an inventor's son.

"I can only think of how pleased my patients will be when they hear about what I'm working on now."

"Like Mr. Mintzer?" chirped the young man rejoining the conversation trying to fill his voice with excitement.

"Exactly; hopefully when I'm finished he'll be able to fully use his right hand and play the saxophone once more."

Edward coal-blacks eyes widened even more as he turned his thoughts to how he could one day have the chance to use the genius he inherited from his father.

Though he would dream of it, and he went to college with science in mind, his heart longed for the creative passion of painting and all things art which he practiced when he got the chance.

"So Edward how is college?" asked Ze as the family continued their meal happily.

"Not bad; of course the food there could never compare to yours…and I miss watching you paint."

Of course, her motherly instincts had been right about the food.

It was so obvious how much he longed to create art.

Sometimes she wondered why he pursued science with such fervor.  
Hiding her worry she laughed saying

"I'm sure that now you're on your break you can paint all you want."

Edward nodded, digging in once again to his pancakes.

His father spoke next, humor on the tip on his tongue.

"I'm sure when you finish college your apartment will be just like your room; half filled with your books of science and art supplies scattered about everywhere."

Vincent then got up and put his dish in the sink, Edward and Ze finishing soon after.

Ze got up to do her daily duty of washing the dishes, but her son found himself offering to do so instead.

Only hours later after much family time spent together Vincent was called away for a meeting.

As Edward and Ze sat in the living room with only the sound of gentle music, she had a spark of some memory come to mind, a sudden reminder.

"I have to go shopping. Would you like to come with me?"

There had been no need to ask, but the mother seemed to find it tradition to ask.

Edward didn't look up from his painting; a watercolor full of life, vibrant reds and yellows mixed together to form the most beautiful designs. Nearby was another painting of his; a canvas with a thick painted black background and layered white swirls that seemed to move magically.

He had become immersed in his painting again, and hadn't seemed to have heard her.

Moving her old bones from the couch where she had been reading, she got up silently and walked over, calling softly.

His head turned in the slightest, proof that he had finally heard her.

Slowly, he finished a final stroke as lifted his brush from the canvas, wearing a guilty smile now.

"Shopping, you said?" he asked looking like he just woken from a dream, as he always did when he immersed himself in his art.

"When you finish painting, of course."

"No, it's okay, I'll finish it later. I think I need to take a break anyway," said the young man as he placed the brush into the old tin can filled with dirty water which needed to be emptied soon.  
And without another word he made his way to the bathroom to wash his paint stained hands.

After joining his mother by the doorway they made their way to the main entrance.

"Mom, could you possibly make my favorite tonight?"

"Of course," said Ze wrapping am arm around her, kissing his head delicately from the side, making Edward feel nostalgic suddenly.

She had forgotten how nice it was to have him home.

………………………………..

"Sounds like a nice life," said the woman softly.

"It was."


	3. The start of a story

As Bill and Peg quietly argued over the events of the following evening Eve sat uncomfortably in silent concern. The son, Kevin who she met along with Bill this morning walked in a huff and planted his rump in the chair across from her, consistently boring his childish gaze at her making her even more nervous then she already was. She found herself restlessly snipping her thumbs across the sewn leather dress she knew so well as she tried to ignore the child and wait patiently.  
But it seemed she wouldn't be able to ignore him as he suddenly asked,

"Why do you do that?"

He said it in a bored, uncaring tone but Eve knew she had to answer and after mentally sighing she said in an equally uncaring voice,

"I don't know, I just do."

She continued her snipping with a bit more enthusiasm seeing his unpleasant expression.

After a moment he continued,

"So how'd you become a freak? Was it some kind of punishment or something?"  
Okay, that pissed her off, making her angrier then nervous and the girl let herself show it through a cold, piercing stare at the immature boy who dared call her a freak.

He sent a burning stare right back at her and Eve knew exactly what he was thinking. It was the same thing almost everyone thought when they laid eyes on her and her "hands"; how to get rid of her as fast as possible.

Kevin's hateful eyes moved from her scarred features to her bladed fingers, tracing them, touching them. It made her feel sick, being stared at as she always had been, even when she had once been "normal."

The worst part was she knew he was looking at them and not her, so she instinctively folded her blades into her arms like a bird hiding its wings as shifting her weight a bit wanting to avoid any more questions.

"Well," asked Kevin.

"Well, what?" snapped Eve, looking over to the bickering parents, wondering if Peg could shut up her insensitive son.

"What are you?" he asked bluntly.

"I don't know. Why do you care?" replied Eve starting to truly let her anger show.

What was up with him?  
"Well, my mom HIT you and you're not dead. Hell, you're not even hurt, so why?"

There would be no avoiding it. She might as well give him what he wanted, and maybe then he would leave her alone.

With another mental sigh she said,

"Okay, I have these chemicals in my body which make me heal fast and age slowly, happy now?"

A sudden spark of actual interest appeared in the boy's gaze.

"Cool! I wish I had some cool chemical in my body like that."

Eve answered his excitement with a bitter laugh saying,

"No, you don't. Could you imagine what it's like seeing all those around you die while you're locked to this world for god knows how long? Kid, don't even bother thinking about it."

Kevin's fondness of the idea faded as fast as it came and he moved back to his menacing state of mind throwing generally mean thoughts and negativity her way.  
And Eve almost regretted saying what she did, but her supposed immortality was not something she wished upon anyone.

Meanwhile it seemed the boy's parents "discussion" had come to a conclusion. But the woman felt an interrogation on the way, even though Peg was smiling so sweetly.

"Well, before we start Bill and I wanted to ask a bit of a personal question if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not," said Eve noticing how somber Peg looked before she continued.

"Do you know anyone by the name of Edward? He had hands like yours."

The woman's eyes widened in shock.

They knew Edward, her dear brother.

"Ye-yes, I know him. How do you though? When did you last see him?" asked Eve her voice desperate.

"He came down from that old mansion on the hill a few years ago and stayed with us."

"So where is he now?"

Suddenly everyone's expression, even Kevin's, became dim.

"Everyone believes him to be dead," said the mother sending a shockwave through the girl.  
Please no, not Edward too.

"But…" started peg, her voice becoming a whisper.

"My daughter told us a secret. The neighbors need to think he is no longer alive so this is an imperative secret. In order to keep him alive she lied. He's still up there; at least we're pretty sure."

Relief filled the young woman.

Thank god.

But that meant she had to leave as soon as possible.

Her mind told her to go now, but it sounded like she wouldn't be safe in the light of these streets.

"As soon as it's dark I have to go find him. Please don't stop me. I have to find him before they do."

"Only if you tell us how you know him. He was very important to us."  
Eve bit her lip. If they knew her brother and helped him, she could tell them.

"He's my brother…well not by blood but because of what we are-what they did to us."

"They?"

"The leaders of Project S. and the organization- the ones who turned us into freaks and now want to erase their mistake…they burned everything, killed my mother and Joesia and I just wanted to live in peace…start over…"

Peg moved over to sit next to Eve seeing how emotional she was getting, how she was attempting to fight back tears. She placed her hand delicately on Eve's back in hopes of comforting her.

"If it's too hard to say anything you don't have to."

"Thank you, but if you knew Edward I think you deserve to know," said the young woman as she gulped down hateful tears from the memories beginning to tear into her and spoke again,

"It's a long story, fair warning," she started as she briefly closed her eyes forging into the midst of a neglected memory where a world of another life came into view.

"I was normal once like you. I had a family, home, and friends. I went to school and even had someone I loved. I lived only a few blocks from here, though everything has changed."  
"What do you mean changed?" asked peg gently.

"Before the developments were put up. I haven't kept track of the years but I think it's fair to say both Edward and I are older then you."

Peg found herself in a bit of shock now as she sat back against the couch.

Eve looked no older than twenty and Edward, dear Edward was the same, but he had the likeness of child about him.

"Because of that weird chemical right?" added in Kevin finally joining the conversation.

Eve nodded and continued.

"Anyway, I especially remember Joe. His full name was Joesia, but only my mother called him that. He was a street kid that my mom and I took in basically."

"You said he passed away?"

"Yes, killed by the same people that wish to kill me and Edward."

"Was he like you?"

"Yes, he had scissorhands too, but like me and Edward he had no choice in becoming what we are now. In fact, back then we were just another pair of lovesick teenagers."

Eve slid into her story and memories of the past, remembering one early morning where she had been sitting in the back garden of her home.

Joe had hopped over the painted wooden fence that separated him and his love. As always he scaled it like nothing, smiling and moved to sit in the waiting chair. Then he stretched over and kissed his girl deeply ignoring the cup of juice waiting on the table for him.

And that's how Eve's mother found them.

She put down the tray of toast and jam she had been carrying and with a motherly cough said,

"Good morning Joesia. I see you found my daughter's lips again."

The boy pulled away immediately, stumbling into his chair, unsuccessfully pretending to be drinking his cup of orange juice, lipstick smeared abouthis mouth.

And after taking a long sip, he wiped the lipstick off saying,  
"No disrespect or anything ma'am but her lips taste better…then a ripe apple on a fresh Sunday morning."

Mary laughed at her adapted son's rather pathetic poetic attempt and replies,

"It's quite all right, I was in love once. Now to make up for stealing a kiss from my precious daughter, you now have to tell me the news from the streets."

Eve's mother had always been fond of hearing the news that wasn't in the papers, and Joe was her prime source.

And being as wily as he was, he stood up and politely cleared his throat getting ready to give his daily report as Mary sat down to drink her morning coffee.

"Nothing too big ma'am, unless…you count strange disappearances to be so. Everyone is rumoring about people there being one day and not the next. Some folks think its rival gangs but the people disappearing are good time girls and the homeless so it doesn't make much sense. I can't help but think it's something much worse. Therefore I feel I should continue walking Miss Eve to school everyday."

Mary casually looked to her watch as the minor speech Joe had given-the watch which once belonged to her dearly departed husband and in surprise she noticed how late it was.

"Speaking of that, you too need to head off to school. It's quarter past eight."

Eve practically jumped out of her seat,

"Books! Where are my books?"

"Under your chair, darling," said the older woman handing her daughter the belt of books and giving her a kiss on the cheek while Joe started making his way out the garden gate instead of over it after grabbing his books.

Before he left Mary called,

"And you, Mister Joesia, watch out for my daughter or it'll be the devil to pay."

Eve and her mom walking to the gate and before she went to run off after Joe she said,

"He already has, so no worries,"


End file.
